RIOT-GIRLS-Press-Kit.Pdf
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Production Notes Runtime: 82 minutes Directed by Jovanka Vuckovic Written by Katherine Collins Produced by Lauren Grant CONTACT: Aïcha Diop [email protected] T: 647-349-8644 RIOT GIRLS LOGLINE Best friends Nat and Scratch will stop at nothing to save Nat’s brother from the despotic jocks who rule half of Potter’s Bluff – a town divided since a mysterious disease wiped out all the adults. SYNOPSIS After all the adults are wiped out from a mysterious disease, the surviving kids split into two groups: the have not Eastsiders vs. the tyrannical Westside Titans. When one of their own is captured by the Titans, it’s up to punk rockers and best friends Nat and Scratch to lead the East side teens on a deadly, high-octane mission that forever alters the future of Potter’s Bluff. ABOUT THE PRODUCTION In 2006, the Canadian Film Centre, the country’s most prestigious incubator of screen talent, was soliciting applications to its exclusive Screenwriter’s Lab. Each submission was to include three ‘elevator pitches’ of original films. Among the thousands of submissions the CFC received was one dynamite pitch by a then-unknown young screenwriter named Katherine Collins. This budding and ambitious pitch for a feature film would turn out to be the very first iteration of RIOT GIRLS (then titled HONESTY & CRUELTY). Impressed with Katherine’s writing and intrigued by the originality of her pitch, the CFC accepted Katherine into the program, where she would go on to further develop, workshop, and flesh out her characters and story into a polished screenplay. It was during her tenure at the CFC where she met producer Lauren Grant, who had been accepted into the Producer’s Lab. There was an instant creative connection between them. “Ten years later,” says Katherine, “Lauren made a real play for the project - which had been stuck in a feedback loop of development that whole time - and I trusted she knew what she was doing so we agreed to give it a go.” The predominantly female creative team behind the film quickly took shape as Lauren sought out genre aficionado, filmmaker, and all around badass Jovanka Vuckovic to helm the project. Jovanka immediately connected with the material, seeing her younger self in the punk teenage girls at the heart of the story. Inspired by the films she grew up with, Jovanka envisioned a fun, adventurous film with female leads that didn’t shy away from the violence characteristic of genre films from her youth. Notably, she and the rest of the creatives were excited to tell a story about two queer female leads that isn’t entirely focused on their sexuality. The lead characters of Nat and Scratch are groundbreaking simply in the fact they are the leads of their own story, with their own agency and motivations and, ultimately, because they are in love with each other - not the boy from the other side of the tracks. The mission is to rescue Nat’s brother who has been captured by the rival Titans. Casting the role of Scratch was made easy when Jovanka sat down to watch Paloma Kwiatkowski’s audition tape early on in the casting process. The young Canadian wowed everyone with her boldness and charisma. Jovanka Vuckovic was sold right away, saying “I just knew. It sounds cliché, but I just knew it was her. She was exactly the way we envisioned her and was totally cool with us shaving her head into a mohawk!” Casting the role of Nat was not as easy, but after watching the incredibly strong audition of Madison Iseman, the team knew she was right for the role. The two actors had the advantage of spending time together prior to shooting, bonding and developing the chemistry that is evident on screen. One crucial element of Riot Girls was the division between the Eastsiders and Westsiders – not only in the characters, but also in the landscape. The team found the ideal stand-in for Potter’s Bluff in Parry Sound, a popular cottage country destination for residents of Southern Ontario. “We loved that (Parry Sound) is surrounded by water and created a visual barrier between the east and west side,” said producer Lauren Grant. “There is a distinction between the old and the new of the town that really captured the feeling and tone of our film.” It was the task of Production Designer Jennifer Morden to construct that eastside/westside dichotomy. “The east side would be sort of Bohemian/rundown/graffitied … all the stores would be pillaged, the streets would have cars broken down in the middle of them,” explains Morden. “It was decided that we'd make the west side more pristine, orderly … you know, all the houses should look somewhat similar to one another. They should all be a little bit bigger. The streets are taken care of and cleaned everything kind of looks a little bit ‘Pleasantville’ style”. Riot Girls is one of those films you wish you saw when you were sixteen years old. “It's about people who are being brave and it's people who are breaking expectations”, says screenwriter Katherine Collins. “It’s not often we see two girls save a guy and genuinely save him. That is for me what makes this film continually refreshing; putting stories and characters that are normally marginalized in the centre and just starting from there and moving.” “We were often asked where is Jack’s heroic moment?” said producer Lauren Grant “but the truth is, he doesn’t get one. He isn’t the hero of this story and he needs to be rescued. The question really drives home why more films with female characters need to be made – people have a hard time even thinking a man doesn’t have to be a hero.” “You know, it's a Juliet and Juliet story and that's really what I found most attractive,” echoed director Jovanka Vuckovic. “It’s just the opportunity to tell stories from a different perspective than we're used to seeing”.“It is exactly the kind of project I want to see and make - a queer coming of age film set in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Kick ass female characters getting their turn to be the heroes of their own stories,” says Lauren Grant in closing. “I’m so proud we got this film made.” ABOUT THE CAST Madison Iseman (Nat) Madison Iseman, the 21-year-old South Carolina native, has immersed herself in the industry from a presence in television and film to digital content. She discovered her interest in the arts in middle school when she became involved in videography and photography, creating her own short films. There were limited theatrical opportunities in her hometown so Iseman found her own outlets, participating in church choir and learning to play the violin and ukulele. She moved to Los Angeles when she was 16 years old to pursue her craft full time. Iseman is currently filming the lead in the Goosebumps sequel, Haunted Halloween and recently hit the big screen as ‘Bethany’ in Sony/Columbia Picture’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Iseman’s next projects to be released are the films Riot Girls, The Fox Hunter, and Feast of the Seven Fishes. Paloma Kwiatkowski (Scratch) Photo by Ian Redd Paloma Kwiatkowski is a Canadian actress who made her film debut straight out of high school as 'Thalia Grace' in the Percy Jackson franchise. She has since been seen starring in a variety of feature films and making appearances in several TV shows including “Supernatural”, “Travelers” and one of her more notable roles as 'Cody Brennan' in “Bates Motel”. You can look out for her upcoming work, as a supporting character opposite Johnny Depp in the feature film Richard Says Goodbye, and in the lead role as 'Scratch' in the post-apocalyptic thriller Riot Girls. Paloma lives in Vancouver, BC where she spends her free time fueling her passion for the outdoors, venturing on hiking and backpacking expeditions. Ajay Friese (Sony) Ajay Friese hails from Victoria, British Columbia. He landed his first screen role at age 13 in Disney’s “Mr. Young” and followed it up with Nickelodeon’s “One Crazy Cruise”. Recent film and television credits include recurring roles on the Netflix produced series “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” and “The Order”. He is currently a series regular on “ReBoot: The Guardian Code” and “Lost in Space”, also produced by Netflix. Friese’s love of the performing arts is also expressed through music; in 2016 his award-winning band Close The Bombay Doors released its first album This Right Here, for which he penned the lyrics, composed the music, and played guitar and sang lead vocals. Munro Chambers (Jeremy) Born and raised in Toronto, Munro Chambers got his start in the entertainment business at the age of seven, booking a national McDonald’s commercial. He went on to make his feature film debut in Godsend opposite Robert De Niro and Greg Kinnear. Chambers may be best known for his role as “Eli Goldsworthy” on the Emmy-nominated, long running series “Degrassi: The Next Generation”. He received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for his work on the series in 2014, in the category of Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series. Beyond his acting career, Chambers has worked with international charity and educational partner Free The Children for the past five years and has traveled to India, Haiti, Ghana and Nicaragua to build schools, playgrounds and install water filtration systems with the organization. When he has down time, he enjoys watching films and playing hockey.